McIntosh County Academy has been ripping through the rest of Region 2-AA coming into Tuesday night’s sub-region 2-AA (B) matchup with Bryan County. The Lady Buccaneers, who were averaging a margin of victory of greater than 25 points a region contest, kept rolling right along in Pembroke with a 65-22 win over the Lady Redskins.

Sophomore center Makhala Jackson led MCA with a game-high 18 points, including 10 in the opening quarter, while Shakhala Mells and Shamia Wynn added 12 apiece. The Lady Bucs scored 30 first-quarter points and never looked back, as they improved to 13-6 overall and 5-0 in sub-region play.

“(Jackson) is one of the top players in the whole state, and we didn’t really have anyone who could match up with her,” Bryan County coach Mario Mincey said. “There’s probably not a team in our region who’s anywhere close to (MCA) right now. They’ve been lighting everyone up. They’ve got a good group back from last year when they were young, and now that they’re older, they’re probably the favorites to win the region.”

After Wynn opened the game with a 3-pointer, Bryan County’s Diamond McGirt answered with a three of her own on the other end, but soon after that, the rout was fully on. Jackson knocked down a short bucket, and Mells and Ciera McRae followed two quick turnovers with a pair of bombs to push MCA out to an 11-3 lead just over a minute into the game.

Following another three-pointer from McGirt — who finished with a team-high 9 points — that cut the lead to 21-11, the Lady Bucs went on a 19-0 tear to blow it wide open and led 47-16 at the break. The second half wasn’t much different, as MCA continued to build its lead, while the Lady Redskins (2-15, 1-4) managed just six points, including being shut out in a shortened six-minute fourth quarter.

“We just didn’t play well in the first couple of minutes, and you can’t do that and let yourself fall behind against a good team like that,” Mincey said. “We did play a little better defensively after the first quarter, but we couldn’t match their size and speed early.”

Matching opponents’ size and speed has been tough all season for Bryan County — already in a rebuilding year — in its jump from Class A to AA.

“We just don’t have the 6-foot players and sharp shooters like a few of the teams in this region do,” Mincey said. “So it’s a big adjustment.”